Blog

by Claire Gray - September 29, 2026

Planning to hire before year-end? Explore the Autumn 2026 recruitment market, salary trends and how retained search can help secure critical talent.

by Victoria Brown - September 23, 2026

Hiring a senior Personal Assistant, Executive Assistant or Chief of Staff is rarely as simple as finding someone with the right experience on paper. They need to understand the business, the culture, the pace and, importantly, how their principal works. This is where retained search can make a real difference.

by Claire Gray - September 21, 2026

As businesses have changed, so has the remit of the Office Manager. Depending on the organisation, the role can now involve everything from managing suppliers and budgets to onboarding employees, supporting senior leadership and making decisions that directly affect how a business operates.

by Claire Gray - September 17, 2026

This employee hiring checklist covers the key stages of the hiring process, while also considering how to build high-trust support functions that can scale with your organisation.

by Claire Gray - September 10, 2026

An HR Representative is often the first point of contact for employees when they have a question or issue at work. The role sits between employees and management, helping businesses manage the day-to-day people matters that keep a workplace running effectively. So, what does HR do on a typical day?

by Flora MacGreevy - September 07, 2026

We are heading into the final stretch of the year and it is always an interesting time for EAs (chaos), but it’s also when high performers stand out. Discover what “three steps ahead” really means and how to spot genuine excellence.

by Claire Gray - September 07, 2026

September is often described as a “surge” month for recruitment, but does the September surge still hold up in a more cautious UK job market?

by Claire Gray - August 10, 2026

Personal assistants and office managers are both valuable support hires, but they are not the same role. For hiring managers, understanding the difference matters because each one solves a different business problem.

by Claire Gray - August 10, 2026

Many of the best operations managers start in business support. If you have experience as a PA, EA, office manager, or operations assistant, you may already have more of the right skills than you think.

by Claire Gray - August 06, 2026

Emotional intelligence is one of the most valuable workplace skills, especially in PA, EA, office manager, and business support roles. The good news is that it is not fixed; with the right habits, you can strengthen it over time.

by Claire Gray - August 06, 2026

Sending the same CV to every job is one of the most common mistakes candidates make. It may feel efficient, but recruiters can usually spot a generic application immediately. The good news is that tailoring your CV does not mean rewriting everything.

by Claire Gray - July 30, 2026

AI personal assistants are already changing how senior professionals work, but they are not replacing human assistants any time soon. For hiring managers and business leaders, the real question is how these tools can be used today, what they may be capable of tomorrow, and why the human element still matters.

by Claire Gray - July 23, 2026

As we move through the summer months, the UK recruitment market continues to tell a story of cautious optimism. While many businesses remain mindful of economic uncertainty, hiring has by no means ground to a halt.

by Emily Verschoyle - July 16, 2026

For many professionals, summer is synonymous with switching on an out-of-office and switching off from work. But for those considering their next career move, it can also be one of the most strategic times of the year to pause, reflect and plan ahead.

by Ellie Grindle - July 14, 2026

Summer can bring a different pace to the workplace. For assistants, the challenge is to stay proactive when the usual pace of work changes. The best PAs understand that slower periods still matter, because the quality of support they provide during this time has a direct impact on how smoothly the wider business runs.

by Alice Stevenson - July 09, 2026

When July arrives, many London businesses enter the same familiar cycle: annual leave starts to peak, inboxes slow down, and the pressure to keep everything moving shifts onto the people who remain in the office. For office managers, EAs, HR teams and chiefs of staff, that is exactly when temporary support becomes most valuable.

by Emily Bain - July 02, 2026

Pacific Asset Management (PAM) is a fresh and progressive asset manager, rethinking the conventions of how asset management works for advisers, institutions, investors, asset owners and the industry. They are responsible for USD 24 billion of assets for their clients. Please join us as our co-founder Emily Bain interviews Matthew Lamb from their newest offices in central London.

by Jessie Hignell - June 30, 2026

The graduate job market is currently experiencing what many describe as a “perfect storm”. But, at Bain and Gray, we continue to see first-hand how powerful graduate talent can be when given the right platform. Far from being “entry-level support”, graduates today are often the future builders of teams, systems and culture.